After your first order is approved and dispatched, you keep a direct line to the clinical team that prescribed it. From your patient portal you can message the team securely, attach a photo of something that is worrying you, report a side effect, ask for a prescriber dose review before your next order goes out, and cancel an order before it is dispatched.
This article is for people comparing UK online weight-loss services and trying to work out what happens after the payment page — what happens after the payment page. It describes how aftercare works at The Weight Clinic, which is operated by Salaam Health Ltd and dispensed from its own GPhC-registered pharmacy, North Harrow Pharmacy in Harrow. It is general information about the service, not medical advice about your own treatment.
The prescription is the start of the relationship, not the end of the transaction
Weight-loss treatment with a prescription-only medicine is not a one-off purchase. Doses move one step at a time — your current dose, one step up, or one step down — and the questions that matter, such as is this normal, should I stay where I am, I have missed a week, my pen was damaged, arrive after the first parcel has been signed for. A service that is only set up to take orders is not much help at that point.
Everything below exists in the patient portal today, and the numbers come from the clinic's own records. Where a figure is an average or a median, individual experience will vary around it.
Secure messaging with the clinical team
Once you have an account, you can message the clinical team from your patient portal, and photos can be attached to what you send. If you do not have an account yet, general enquiries go through the contact page instead.
How long replies actually take
Measured across every first reply since 1 August 2026:
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Median time to first reply | 60 minutes |
| Replied to within 2 hours | 62% |
| Replied to within 8 hours | 77% |
| Replied to within 24 hours | 91% |
The caveat matters more than the headline. These are medians and percentages across all messages measured since 1 August 2026, so individual replies fall either side of them, and they are a record of what happened rather than a guaranteed response time. The median is the figure to plan around, not the fastest or the slowest case.
Sending a photo with your message
Photographs can be attached to a message you send the clinical team. It is useful when something needs to be seen rather than described — something you want looked at, or a pen or pack you are unsure about. A photograph is often quicker and clearer than a description.
What secure messaging is not for
Secure messaging is not an emergency service and it does not replace NHS urgent care. If you are worried about your health urgently, use NHS 111, your GP or 999, and tell the clinic afterwards so your record is updated. If you want more background on how remote prescribing is meant to work safely, see are online weight-loss injections safe in the UK.
Reporting a side effect
You can report a side effect from the portal, and what you report is attached to your record. What you report is recorded against your account, and a prescriber can hold an order and request more information before anything else is sent to you, as set out below. If a prescriber wants more information before anything else is sent to you, they can hold the order and ask for it, as set out below.
Asking for a dose review before your next order
When you place a reorder there is a tick-box asking for a prescriber dose review before anything is dispatched. Ticking it flags the order so a prescriber reviews your dose before anything is dispatched, instead of the order moving straight through to dispensing at the dose you selected. It is the right option if you are unsure whether to step up, if the last step was uncomfortable, or if your circumstances have changed.
Dose changes follow rules the system applies rather than a free choice at checkout. Doses move one step at a time — your current dose, one step up, or one step down. Moving between different medicines follows published dose-equivalence rules, so you cannot jump to an unrelated high dose by switching product. If you are transferring in from another provider, you must upload evidence of your current dose before you can be continued at it; an unverified claim of a high dose is not accepted. You can see the medicines and strengths available on the treatments page.
When a prescriber holds an order
A prescriber can put an order on hold and request more information from you, and dispatch is blocked until you answer. This is deliberate friction: it is the mechanism that stops an order being posted while a clinically relevant question is unresolved, and it applies to repeat orders as well as first ones.
For context on the normal timeline, across repeat orders paid since 1 July 2026, 89% were approved within 24 hours, with an average of 11.6 hours, and 90% were dispatched within 24 hours of approval. A hold stops that clock until you reply. Orders can also be declined outright — a prescriber is not obliged to supply, and where one declines, the payment is refunded.
Reorder reminders, missed doses and wasted doses
Reminders are timed to when your current supply is due to run out, rather than to a fixed calendar date, so they land at roughly the right moment rather than weeks early. If you miss a dose or waste one — a dropped pen, a device problem, a week away — you can record that, and your reminder and the point at which your next order is due both shift to match what you have actually used.
Timing that ignores missed or wasted doses either prompts you to buy early or leaves you short, and neither is a good basis for a treatment that depends on continuity.
Cancelling an order and how refunds work
An order can be cancelled and refunded before it is dispatched; the cancellation window runs up to the point of dispatch. What you get back depends on one thing: whether a video consultation appointment had been booked.
If you cancel before dispatch and no consultation appointment was ever booked, you are refunded in full. If an appointment was booked, the refund is less £25, whether or not the appointment went ahead and whether or not it was later cancelled or rearranged; we never retain more than you paid. Separately, if a prescriber reviews your case and declines to supply, your payment is refunded and the £25 does not apply.
What to ask any provider about aftercare
If you are weighing up services, these questions separate them more effectively than price does:
- Can you message a clinician after you have ordered, or only a general enquiries address?
- Are published response times medians or best cases, and are they measured across all messages?
- Can a prescriber stop a dispatch and ask you a question, or does a paid order always ship?
- Can you ask for a dose review before a reorder goes out, or does the dose you click get dispensed?
- What exactly happens if you need to cancel, and what is retained?
If you want to check the underlying registrations and regulation behind any of this, that is covered in is The Weight Clinic legitimate. If you are at the earlier stage of finding out whether treatment is suitable for you at all, the free online questionnaire gives you an eligibility answer before any payment is taken.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly will someone reply to a message?
Since 1 August 2026, the median first reply was 60 minutes, with 62% answered within 2 hours, 77% within 8 hours and 91% within 24 hours. These figures cover all first replies in that period and are a record of what happened rather than a guaranteed response time.
Can I send a photo with a message?
Yes. Photographs can be attached to a secure message from the patient portal, and images can be sent back to you as well. It is useful when something needs to be seen rather than described, such as something you want looked at, or a pen or pack you are unsure about.
Can I ask for my dose to be reviewed before my next order is sent?
Yes. There is a tick-box on the reorder that requests a prescriber dose review before dispatch. Ticking it means a prescriber looks at your case, and can arrange a call, rather than the order going straight through. Doses move one step at a time, and switches between medicines follow published dose-equivalence rules.
What happens if a prescriber puts my order on hold?
A prescriber can hold an order and request more information from you, and dispatch is blocked until you answer. Once you reply, the order returns to the normal review process. An order can also be declined, and where a prescriber declines to supply, the payment is refunded.
What happens if I miss a dose or waste one?
You can record a missed or wasted dose, and your reorder reminder and the point at which your next order is due both shift to reflect what you have actually used. That keeps reminders tied to when your supply genuinely runs out rather than to a fixed date that no longer matches your treatment.
Can I cancel an order and get a refund?
An order can be cancelled at any point before it is dispatched. If no consultation appointment was ever booked, you are refunded in full. If an appointment was booked, the refund is less £25, whether or not the appointment went ahead and whether or not it was later cancelled or rearranged, and we never retain more than you paid. Separately, if a prescriber reviews your case and declines to supply, your payment is refunded and the £25 does not apply.
